Gov. Scott Walker's marine sanctuary decision draws 'disbelief'

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has considered declaring part of Lake Michigan a national marine sanctuary, a status that could bring shipwrecks and other underwater resources off Wisconsin’s coast under increased protection.
Gary C. Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin

Courtesy of Tamara Thomsen/Wisconsin Historical Society
The La Salle shipwreck found in summer 2015 of the shoreline of Point Beach State Forest is one of the wrecks within the proposed national marine sanctuary.
The La Salle shipwreck found in summer 2015 of the shoreline of Point Beach State Forest is one of the wrecks within the proposed national marine sanctuary.(Photo: Courtesy of Tamara Thomsen/Wisco, Courtesy of Tamara Thomsen/Wisco)

SHEBOYGAN – Leaders of cities along Lake Michigan said Thursday they were in “disbelief” after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker pulled his nomination for a national marine sanctuary proposal.

Mayors in Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Port Washington, and the city manager in Two Rivers, released a joint statement Thursday responding to news this week that Walker had rescinded his support for the sanctuary. Greg Buckley, Two Rivers' city manager, confirmed the statement, which he said came out of a conference call the day before among leaders of all four cities.

“Residents, educators, business leaders, tourism executives, environmental groups, and elected officials from the cities of Port Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers have reacted with disbelief and disappointment to Governor Walker’s action rescinding his 2014 nomination of the area of Lake Michigan off their communities to be American’s newest National Marine Sanctuary,” the cities' leaders said.

Walker sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s acting administrator last week announcing his decision to rescind the state’s nomination for the sanctuary. It wasn’t immediately clear what the decision means for the proposal’s future, though several local officials have said the governor’s approval would be key to someday implementing a sanctuary.

Thursday’s statement notes Walker had himself launched the process to implement the sanctuary in Lake Michigan when he formally lobbied NOAA in 2014 to consider an 875-square-mile region for new federal protections for historic shipwrecks off the state’s east coast.

The proposal later grew in size, and NOAA earlier this year was considering options to implement a sanctuary between 1,075 and 1,260 square miles, extending as far as from Kewaunee to Ozaukee counties.

The proposal had fielded criticism and pushback from opponents who said a sanctuary could invite federal intrusion in Lake Michigan and could threaten local lakeshore landowners’ property rights. Walker’s letter to NOAA alluded to “concerns” that had been raised about the proposal, and noted the state was already caring for underwater shipwrecks and didn’t need federal help.

“The addition of a new level of government for citizens to petition for permits and certifications for normal use of Lake Michigan is too much of a tradeoff for the negligible benefit to protecting shipwrecks,” Walker had said in his letter to NOAA. “Wisconsin has and will continue to protect our submerged cultural resources.”

In Thursday's statement, Kathy Tank, executive director of the city of Port Washington's tourism council, said Walker's letter "represents a missed opportunity for all of us."

In their statement Thursday, local city leaders said the sanctuary proposal “was perceived to be well on its way” for a final designation either late this year or early next.

"The leaders of these communities aren’t ready to give up on this, not by a long shot," Buckley told a reporter Thursday afternoon. The Two Rivers city manager said he and others are hoping to keep urging Walker "to come back to the table" for "meaningful dialogue with NOAA."

Buckley said efforts to secure a sanctuary designation in the lake had been "an amazing process" that fielded strong support. He said meetings about the topic in past years had raised "some fair questions," some of which he said still needed answers.

"But this process has moved along remarkably well," he said, "and I think is a model for federal, state and local cooperation.

"So let’s not scuttle all of that good work," he added, "all the good things that have been done."